WWE Friday Night SmackDown in Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA, Live on the USA Network, May 1st, 2026 — The Episode Recap:
- robbyplaha
- May 2
- 6 min read
Location: BOK Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA.
Where to Watch: Live on the USA Network.
What to Watch Next Week: WWE Backlash Streaming Live on ESPN Unlimited on Saturday at 7 P.M. ET, 6 P.M. CT, 4 P.M PT.
The May 1st Episode of WWE Friday Night SmackDown — The Official Match Results:
The Opening Match: Jacy Jayne (with Fallon Henley & Lainey Reid) defeated Charlotte Flair (with Alexa Bliss) in a Singles Match | via Pin-Fall — (10:05)
The 2nd Match: Wepa Up! (Damian Priest & R-Truth) (c) defeated Fraxiom (Axiom & Nathan Frazer) in a WWE Tag Team Title Match | via Pin-Fall — (09:35)
The 3rd Match: Cody Rhodes defeated Ricky Saints in a Singles Match | via Pin-Fall — (09:00)
The 4th Match: Royce Keys defeated Angel (with Berto) in a Singles Match | via Pin-Fall — (01:45)
The 5th Match: Brie Bella & Paige (c) defeated The Irresistible Forves (Lash Legend & Nia Jax) in a WWE Women’s Tag Team Match | via Pin-Fall — (07:50)
The Main Event Match: The MFTs (Solo Sikoa & Talla Tonga) defeated The Usos (Jey Uso & Jimmy Uso) in a Tag Team Match | via DQ — (10:30)
My Official Thoughts on the May 1st Episode of WWE Friday Night SmackDown:
My Official Thoughts: A very awful episode; this had no suspense. This felt lifeless, and this Brand is horrendous. I'm going to keep this short because WWE doesn't care what you want, memes and ciemia is what this company is navigating towards now.
The May 1st Episode of WWE Friday Night SmackDown — My Official Match Ratings:
The Opening Match: Jacy Jayne (with Fallon Henley & Lainey Reid) vs. Charlotte Flair (with Alexa Bliss) in a Singles Match | The Match Rating: ***.50 — Charlotte Flair with another solid performance she has been getting in her bag again, as it's evident she enjoys working with Jacy Jayne. You know when you can tell someone is enjoying working with someone when she's going all out to make the other person look like a star, like she was doing with Jacy Jayne. Charlotte Flair was doing some moves I haven't seen her do in a while. Still, this match was something strong for Fatal Influence as a whole. Fallon Henley was doing some dirty work. Man, Lainey Reid had a nasty knee to the face to Alexa Bliss, which distracted Charlotte Flair to help allow Jacy Jayne to get the win with that beautiful forearm punch she does. After the matych, Rhea Ripley came out but this has been some strong booking for Fatal Influence as next week we getting a Six-Wioman Tag Team Match with all of Fatal Influence against Alexa Bliss, Charlotte Flair & Rhea Ripley this should Main Event next week show sucks it isn't on Backlash but I'mn hoping this match gets 15-20 minutes let these women hoop, and we in for a super fun Six-Women Tag Team Match, but great start for Fallon Henley, Jacy Jayne & Lainey Reid on the Main Roster. I would have Jacy Jayne win the WWE Women's United States Title, and have Fallon Henley & Lainey Reid win the WWE Women's Tag Team Titles, as they can run this Women's Division this year.
The 2nd Match: Wepa Up! (Damian Priest & R-Truth) (c) vs. Fraxiom (Axiom & Nathan Frazer) in a WWE Tag Team Title Match | The Match Rating: ** — This match was okay, but why are we still having Damian Priest & R-Truth as the champions? This was a perfect chance to make Fraxiom win the WWE Tag Team Titles, a team that many had as one of the best tag teams in the whole world last year, but now has cooled off for Damian Priest & R-Truth. Now, there were some enjoyable parts of this match, mainly because of Fraxiom as they were flying around, and using their aerial offense to take down both Damian Priest & R-Truth, but in the end, Damian Priest got both men down to get the win. However, afterwards, sadly, the MFTs attacked as Talla Tonga destroyed Damian Priest, as Solo Sikoa looked on, as they want the WWE Tag Team Titles. Here's my problem: you have Creed Brothers, Fraxiom, Los Garza, and other talented tag teams who don't get notable work, but you give a custom team and a stable that no one likes and have failed to garner any fan love, feuding. That's why people talk down on Friday Night SmackDown because of how terribly booked the majority of the talented wrestlers are.
The 3rd Match: Cody Rhodes vs. Ricky Saints in a Singles Match | The Match Rating: *** — Pretty decent match, a great way to introduce the audience to Ricky Saints, as he started the night not having a loud reaction, but by the end of his promo against Cody Rhodes, some fans started cheering. Then we saw during the match that people started tuning in for Ricky Saints. But I'm very happy the World Champion fought on SmackDown in a Clean Match; this is what brings the quality of the show up. My big issue is why didn't this Main Event? Imagine having Gunther closing the show out, holding the Undisputed WWE Title, that would've been great instead of The Bloodline Lore reheated nachos. I think Cody Rhodes vs. Gunther is great. I hope Gunther is on SmackDown; he had an amazing turn on SmackDown in 2022-2023. I hope this is permanent. Gunther should be winning the title from Cody Rhodes and have a proper title reign. Have him feud with Carmelo Hayes, CM Punk, Ilja Dragunov, Jacob Fatu & Trick Williams. It would make for great TV and bring freshness as a great in-ring general as the World Champion. One of the positive points from this episode.
The 4th Match: Royce Keys vs. Angel (with Berto) in a Singles Match | The Match Rating: N/A — I have to say another bright spot is Powerhouse Hobbs now going as Royce Keys. He had a squash match but still displayed to many his in-ring ability as he got the win, and his spinebuster is a thing of beauty. But I also like the interaction with Jacob Fatu that was very neat, and I believe Royce Keys will be interjected into the Jacob Fatu vs. Roman Reigns feud, being on Jacob Fatu’s side, as I like that they detailed the history they had. This is how people get to connect with the Royce Keys character, even though I crap on SmackDown a lot, this was well-done, and written well to show who Royce Keys really is. I do hope him & Jacob Fatu have an alliance for a while because they together would be amazing.
The 5th Match: Brie Bella & Paige (c) vs. The Irresistible Forces (Lash Legend & Nia Jax) in a WWE Women’s Tag Team Title Match | The Match Rating: DUD — Uh, I don’t have a lot of words for this because this match was one of the worst of this year in wrestling in general. I don't put any blame on Lash Legend; she was the only good thing about this whole match, but man, what even was this? Can you really call this Professional Wrestling? Because what in the hell did I even watch? Can we please have Lash Legend as her own self, not with Nia Jax, because this was one of the worst matches I've watched in quite some time.
The Main Event Match: The MFTs (Solo Sikoa & Talla Tonga) vs. The Usos (Jey Uso & Jimmy Uso) in a Tag Team Match | The Match Rating: *.75 — This is the Main Event, wow. I'm going to keep this short and sweet. This match sucked, and I'm tired of this Bloodline stuff. Can we have some creativity? I haven't seen creativity this horrendous since 2019. They clearly don't know what they're doing as a company because this sucked. The only saving grace is Jacob Fatu, but man, WWE, please stop forcing us to watch Bloodline garbage.
The May 1st Episode of WWE Friday Night SmackDown — My Match of the Night: Jacy Jayne (with Fallon Henley & Lainey Reid) vs. Charlotte Flair (with Alexa Bliss) in a Singles Match | The Match Rating: ***.50 — This was a very well-done match, I really believe Fatal Influence is going to be the big bright spots on this terrible show, but this match was a lot of fun, and I’m glad Charlotte Flair locked in for Jacy Jayne goes to show Jacy Jayne will be a star with the other member’s of Fatal Influence.
The May 1st Episode of WWE Friday Night SmackDown — My Official Episode Grade: 3.75/10 (D) — This episode lacks so much. There were some solid bits and pieces, but what is the point of having Gunther be on SmackDown in the middle of the show? But I think this show will never be good. Everything about SmackDown sucks at the moment, and the Bloodline Lore is what brings it down massively. It’s 2026, not 2023.
Next Week WWE Friday Night SmackDown May 8th Episode in Jacksonville, Florida, USA, Live on the USA Network — The Announced Appearances, Matches & Segments:
“The Ring General” Gunther will speak LIVE on Friday Night SmackDown.
Fatal Influence (Fallon Henley, Jacy Jayne & Lainey Reid) vs. Alexa Bliss, Charlotte Flair & Rhea Ripley in a Six-Women Tag Team Match.
Tiffany Stratton (c) vs. Kiana James in a WWE Women’s United States Title Match.
The Gingerbread Man Funeral Segment is Set.
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